


Thorn in your side

by Falloutboi27



Category: The Walking Dead (Telltale Video Game)
Genre: Comfort/Angst, Coming Out, Gen, Gender Dysphoria, I'm questioning my gender so now Ben is too, Lee being a dad, Trans Character, demiboy ben, questioning gender, vent fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-30
Updated: 2020-12-30
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:13:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 720
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28418919
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Falloutboi27/pseuds/Falloutboi27
Comments: 4
Kudos: 12





	Thorn in your side

Ben frowned deeply as he stared at his reflection in the grimy bathroom mirror. His gaze traveled over his form, over his long slim face, down over his narrow frame. He had always been fairly lanky, naturally thin as his doctor put it. Standing in just his t-shirt, he seemed so much smaller without his hoodie and jacket. He wasn’t the most stereotypically masculine-looking person but that never really mattered to him. He looked back up to his face. His pale skin was blotchy from lack of sleep, his jaw was becoming scratchy with...well it was more peach fuzz than actual stubble.

Overall, everything about Ben read as male. He sighed deeply. He never really felt male, at least not fully. He had his moments of feeling comfortable, yet at the same time being a ‘he’ made his skin crawl. 

“Ben?” Lee’s voice sounded from the other side of the closed door, making the teen jump. “Are you okay? You’ve been in there a while.”

“Oh, uh, yeah I’m okay!” Ben quickly answered back. He tugged his hoodie back on over his head before moving over to open the door. “Sorry...just, uh, feeling a little sick.”

Lee looked the teen over, pressing a hand to his forehead. “Did you make yourself stress sick again? Come on, let’s get you water and then you go sit down.”

Ben shook his head; “I’m fine, really.”

“Last time you said that, you ended up throwing up.” Lee countered.

Ben didn’t respond, instead looking down at his sneakers. Lee took the teen’s arm and led him down to the kitchen. He let go of Ben’s arm to stand at the island while he went to the supply cabinet for a water bottle. Ben rested his folded arms on the countertop. 

The cabinet squeaked as it was opened, followed by crinkling plastic. The cabinet was quickly closed and Lee made his way back over to Ben. He passed the water bottle to the teen who took it in his hands.

“So what’s got you stressed?” Lee asked. He leaned against the counter, crossing his arms. “Is this about Kenny?”

“N-no.” Ben fiddled with the bottle cap, unscrewing and rescrewing it. “He has every right to be angry at it. I’m honestly surprised I haven’t been kicked out...”

“I won’t let you get kicked out. What you did was stupid, and dangerous and you should’ve told me the moment the bandits got to you. So we couldn’t prevent what happened.” Ben slumped as Lee spoke. “But...I can see why you didn’t, given your experience with them, and that you were trying to help. Learn from this and do better in the future. You’re a good guy, Ben,”

“But...what if I wasn’t?” Ben finally looked up at the man. 

“Ben…”

“I mean...what if I wasn’t a guy…?” Ben nervously spoke.

Lee didn’t respond, watching the teen in confusion. Ben nervously played with the bottle in the hands. As the silence stretched on, Ben’s anxiety grew. He started to regret his decision of saying anything. 

“So...you’re a girl?” Lee finally spoke up. He sounded concerned but his question was genuine.

Ben grimaced; “No, not that either. I just…” He paused, giving a deep sigh and slouching. “I honestly have no idea what I am. Sometimes I like being a guy and other times it makes my skin crawl. I don’t know if that makes sense.”

“Not entirely,” Lee admitted. When the teen slumped even more, he reached out to rub Ben’s back. “ _ But _ I’ll still help you if I can. Y’know, I had a student one year who used ‘they’ instead of ‘he’ or ‘she’. You want to give that a try?”

“Yeah, that could work.” Ben smiled. They raised their head back up to look at Lee. “You can still say ‘he’ sometimes. Just ‘they’ as well. Could you use ‘they’ now?”

“Sure, Bud.” Lee smiled back. He reached up to ruffle their hair. Ben ducked away, snickering. “Name wise, what are you thinking there?”

“Ben’s still fine. I actually really like my name.” They answered. “Thank you.”

“No problem, Ben.” Lee patted Ben on the back.

Ben felt like a weight had been lifted from their shoulders. They were still unsure of their gender but they had a start now. 


End file.
